Trump’s interior and energy secretaries cheer on natural gas export industry in Gulf Coast

PORT SULPHUR, La. (AP) — The planned expansion of a massive liquified natural gas facility in southeast Louisiana is a beacon for a U.S. energy policy that doubles down on oil and gas exports under President Donald Trump, two members of his Cabinet told a crowd of cheering workers Thursday.

“The prior administration had a full-on attack against U.S. energy,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told workers at petrochemical firm Venture Global’s liquified natural gas facility in Port Sulphur. Venture Global plans an $18 billion expansion in the area for exporting LNG to Europe and Asia. “President Trump is fighting for you every day and he’s fighting because he believes that we have U.S. energy dominance.”

Burgum stood alongside Energy Secretary Chris Wright. The two head a new National Energy Dominance Council focused on spurring U.S. oil and gas production and reversing checks on fossil fuels adopted during President Joe Biden’s administration.

Wright, a fossil fuel executive who has been a vocal critic against efforts to fight climate change, told the assembled workers he planned to advance Trump’s agenda to “unleash American energy, unleash American business and unleash the American spirit.”

The pair pooh-poohed former Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s warning that “unfettered exports” of liquified natural gas could drive up domestic wholesale prices and increase planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions — a statement reflecting the findings of a Department of Energy report released in December. Granholm served under Biden.

“We can absolutely do both — we can sell energy to our friends and allies, we can lower the cost at home,” Burgum told reporters.

Last year, the Biden administration sought to pause approval of new LNG exports. Trump’s administration has vowed to greenlight more exports, already granting conditional export authorization for another huge LNG facility in southwest Louisiana.

Venture Global, which went public in January, saw its stock price tank by more than a third on Thursday after disclosing falling revenue due to a decline in LNG exports. CEO Michael Sabel said he was confident the company would rebound as it attempts to rapidly expand.

In southwest Louisiana’s Cameron Parish, Venture Global is seeking approval to build an LNG export terminal adjacent to its huge existing facility that would be capable of exporting 20 million tons (18 million metric tons) annually. The new facility would also eventually generate as much as 8.5 million tons (7.7 million metric tons) of greenhouse gas emissions, according to its air quality permit application currently under review by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.

“Today is the celebration of the fact that America is back in business building export facilities to help Americans and help our allies,” Burgum said. “That happens in our country when we get the government out of the way,” he added.

Community groups in southwest Louisiana have repeatedly raised environmental and safety concerns about Venture Global’s existing operations.

Critics say the company has often been out of compliance with its permitted pollution limits at its Cameron Parish facility. In 2022, its first year of operation, Venture Global had more than 2,000 permit violations, according to an analysis from the environmental group Louisiana Bucket Brigades. These included excessive flaring and failing to report violations, the group said.

In June 2023, state officials ordered the company to comply with regulations or face penalties. A former oil company engineer turned environmental activist, John Allaire, said he continues to document alarming levels of flaring and chemical releases.

But Sabel said Thursday that Venture Global is “very meticulous in meeting and satisfying all the standards,” hadn’t exceeded its pollution limits “on an annual basis” and is “in continuous communication” with regulators and local authorities.

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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Brook on the social platform X: @jack_brook96.